Are You Geeky Enough to Upgrade Your Computer?
When you think spring do you only think about sprucing up your home? I personally think about sprucing up my computers. Have you ever noticed how computers seem really great and really fast when we first get them, but over time we realize we wish would have gone for the more expensive model with more RAM, or a larger hard drive. Perhaps only computer geeks like me think this way. But, even if you are not a computer geek, there are a few things that you can do to spruce up your computer for spring.
1. Upgrade the RAM: The memory of your computer controls how much stuff you can have open and running on your computer at one time. If you are a multitasker, you want to make sure that running Firefox, Tweetdeck, PowerPoint, and Photoshop while watching movie on Netflix in the corner of your screen (yes, this is what I do) is not going to bog down your computer. While your computer may have come with 1 or 2 gigabytes of RAM, it may be able to take much more. Most computers these days can take a max of 4GB- 8GB of RAM. The more RAM you have, the better your computer will be at multitasking. You can look up the model of your computer on the manufacturers website, or head over to Crucial.com to see if yours is upgradeable.
2. Upgrade your Hard Drive: My Desktop computer came with a 250GB hard drive. There was a time when this was a lot of space. But with more users taking to photography, editing family videos, and downloading music, that space can go quickly. If you are brave enough you can very easily replace the hard drive in your desktop with a larger one. Of course you will have to backup all of your data and be prepared to reinstall all of your software. If this sounds like too much for you, see #3.
3. Add a 2nd Hard Drive: If reinstalling your operating system seems daunting, an easier option is to install a 2nd hard drive in your computer. With the invention of SATA, this is super easy. You can then store your data on the secondary drive. If even that seems too much, see #4.
4. Add an External Hard Drive: This is by far the easiest way to get more storage space. Desktop USB hard drives are very reasonable these days. You can easily add a 1TB USB hard drive to your computer without much work.
5. Add a 2nd Monitor: I added a 2nd monitor to my system a while ago and I am very glad that I did. Of course you will have to have a video card that can support this configuration. But, if you often have multiple windows open, or have to read text in one window while typing in another, you will love the extra real estate space on your screen. I wanted to match the exact Dell monitor that came with my system, but they were quite pricey direct from Dell. I found one on eBay for a fraction of the price, and I could not be happier.
These are some of the major upgrades that you can do to your computer that will give it new life. Of course if you are geeky, this list can get quite long.
Are you geeky enough to upgrade your computer?
Great post! I also am considering the second monitor. Sometimes I sit at my desk and have my laptop running next to my desktop. Pain in the butt.
My favorite was the 2nd monitor. I used that configuration at work and decided to do it for my home. I connected my 37″ LCD television to my computer and I had an instant 2nd monitor that was great to watch streaming video on.
I would add that you might want to add a video card or upgrade. Many computers come with just an integrated, but if you are doing a lot with pics and videos these days a more robust video card will help you out. You do need to make sure your power supply can handle that though – you might need to upgrade that just a bit also. Neither of these things are complicated to install.
My favorite upgrade was adding a monitor for sure. I have one monitor devoted to Tweetdeck most of the time, and do the rest of my work on the other. I actually would like to add one more I think, or get a larger/wider to replace one of them.
And yes, I’m geeky enough :-)